The Bravest Man I Ever Knew
by AnnaRavenheart
Summary: He never expected, not even in his craziest dreams, that he would suffer the most because of one particular death. Yes, he grieved over the death of a man who, until that fateful battle, in Harry's opinion was nothing but a sneaky git, batty man and a treacherous Slytherin. Severus Snape, former Potions Master.


_**The Bravest Man I Ever Knew**_

While the dark clouds were looming over the Hogwarts castle, covering the neat embroidery of stars, one person walked across the castle grounds. He was slow, his expression was blank. He looked like he was sleepwalking. Dark like a shadow he was, almost blending in with the gloomy surroundings. Another shadow, darker than the ones around him, the shadow of grief, covered his countenance. His face was young, yet his eyes reflected the grief of someone who had lived more than two centuries. The grief of someone who lost almost everything he held dear.

Of course he hadn't lived for two centuries, that's long even for a wizard. He hadn't lost everything he held dear; the majority of his friends were healthy and safe as well his love, Ginny. But he had lost his innocence, his childhood, his happiness. He lost some people he cared about, the ones that were always there for him. His heart was swollen with depression. His mind was spinning around because of depression. His senses shut down, numbed with depression. His life has become just one word. Depression.

He knew that he would feel like that when everything was over, he knew that he would feel like an empty shell. He knew that the memories would return to him with the force of a hurricane, enough to carry him away. He knew that his heart would throb with pain whenever he would think about cheerful Fred, slightly loony but still awesome Tonks and serious, yet always friendly Lupin. He expected all of that except one thing. He never expected, not even in his craziest dreams, that he would suffer the most because of one particular death. Yes, he grieved over the death of a man who, until that fateful battle, in Harry's opinion was nothing but a sneaky git, batty man and a treacherous Slytherin. Severus Snape, former Potions Master.

The man who used to maltreat Harry during all his school years. The same man that used to do anything he could to make Harry's life worse than it already was. The man who killed Albus Dumbledore. The man who said that doom-full prophecy to Lord Voldemort. But also the man that was his protector and his savior. During all these years.

He pondered the matter silently, too numb to actually cry, as he approached marble, white tomb that was placed next to Dumbledore's. Harry thought that after all, Snape deserved this. He was a hero. _'Maybe even bigger hero than me,'_ Harry thought as his hands slowly reached out to touch the cold marble.

_'Whatever we do, whatever we don't; the same destiny awaits us all. To lie under earth and stone. But why do the better ones always fall first?'_ Everything remained silent, not even the crickets were chirping. It was like the silence mocked his grief. '_Guess what? Nobody cares.'_

The grim thought invaded his mind, poisoned his soul and ate it away with every single moment. Everything was swirling around in a mess of dullness, pain and everlasting grief. The tears began rolling down his cheeks, like the sight of the grave melted one frozen ward inside his heart, the ice that prevented him from crying. He threw another look at the grave, his messy hair shadowing his emerald eyes. The eyes the man that lay beneath the damned stone loved and hated at the same time. The eyes that reminded Severus of his only love.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. I never understood. I was too young, too inexperienced to understand. I'm sorry for hating you. So bloody sorry for everything," he whispered. The empty silence turned the whispers into something that sounded like a chant. The trees of the Forbidden Forest suddenly swayed under the strong wind that appeared out of nowhere and vanished after a couple of moments. Harry raised his head. It seemed to him that Severus sent that wind; to show him that he heard his words. A small comfort for the grieving soul. He raised his wand and out of nowhere a rose, red like blood with leaves that were as green as his eyes fell on top of the grave.

'_For Severus Snape, the man that was born like a Slytherin and died like a Gryffindor. The bravest man I ever knew.'_

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**A/N:** This one-shot was written for Alarice Tey's Sad/Depressing One-shot challenge and AlwaysPadfoot's 52 Weeks of Writing competition. I hope that you will like it. I know it wasn't long, but I couldn't bring myself to write more about this. It's just too sad. Thanks to AnneNevilleReviews for wonderful beta-ing!


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